7 Fearsome Predators That Deserve Their Own Week

With the Discovery Channel's Shark Week in full swing, shark admiration is alive and well. But why should they hog the limelight? PopMech takes a look at seven other predators that deserve seven days in the spotlight.

Green Anaconda

Green Anaconda

The largest snake in the world, the green anaconda reaches more than 29 feet in length and a foot in diameter and weighs in at 550 pounds; its monstrous proportions inspired the Anaconda movie series. The snake is a constrictor and so is a nonvenomous species, but its huge size allows it to hunt down and consume everything from turtles and birds to deer and jaguars.

Anacondas typically lie in wait in the swamps, marshes, and streams of their South American habitat, hovering near the surface. Once it spots a target, the enormous serpent will lunge out and coil itself around its prey, squeezing tighter and tighter until the animal dies from asphyxiation. The anaconda then opens its massive jaws and swallows the prey whole.

Crocodiles

Crocodiles

Of all the various species of crocodiles roaming the planet, the Nile and saltwater crocodiles are the most ferocious.

The Nile crocodile’s territory runs close to that of humans, so even we have reason to fear this 16-foot-long, 500-pound beast. Notoriously indiscriminating in their eating habits, Nile crocodiles will eat fish, zebras, hippos, porcupines, birds, and even other crocodiles. They are not above scavenging for carrion, and National Geographic reports that Nile crocodiles kill an estimated 200 people a year.

The largest crocodile on the planet, the saltwater croc, averages 17 feet in length and tips the scales at 1000 pounds. Known to range from southeast India to northern Australia, "salties" can take down monkeys, wild boars, water buffalo, and even sharks. As if their immense size and appetite weren’t enough, saltwater crocodiles have the strongest bite ever measured. They can clamp their jaws down with 3700 pounds per square inch of force, almost four times as much as a lion, and more than 18 times the biting power of a human. Oh, and saltwater crocodiles can live for 70 years in the wild.